Madden revealed at ESPNZone in NYC

[oldskool]

NEW YORK--The ESPNZone in New York is usually known as being a hub of real world sports, where fans from all over the Big Apple can converge, watch their favorite teams, and down a few cold beverages. Tonight, however, the bar and restaurant was strictly devoted to sports of the virtual kind, as EA Sports unveiled the highly anticipated Madden NFL 06. Along for the ride was a bevy of current NFL greats, such as Daunte Culpepper, Tony Gonzalez, Byron Leftwich, Michael Strahan and Madden 06 cover star Donovan McNabb, on-hand to see the public unveiling of a game in which they all appear.

EA Sports reps announced this evening that development of the football game is complete. There's still some work left to be done before the game reaches store shelves in early August, but for all intents and purposes, the job of programming and refining the game before it's sent to production is essentially finished. The level of scrutiny expected for this year's Madden is higher than ever before, as this entry will be the first NFL game released by the company since it obtained exclusive use of the NFL license in December 2004.

Tonight's event began in relatively low-key style; as media streamed in, it was tough not to notice the NFL guys all huddled around the PS2 and Xbox consoles getting hands-on tours of the game by EA reps. For many of the athletes on hand, tonight's event was their first look at the new Madden game, and a first glimpse at some of the new features that make their way into the game this time around. New features include a tweaked passing system which utilizes both an illuminated cone on the field representing each quarterback's field of vision on the gridiron, and passing controls that lets players better pinpoint passes, by allowing them to throw high, low, away, or behind receivers.

Pick-up games abounded throughout the event, the most intense of which was a battle of Madden cover stars. Minnesota Vikings quarterback (and Madden 2005 cover athlete) Culpepper took on McNabb (whose image can be found on Madden 06) in a match that found both quarterbacks initially standing up to pose for photos. But as the match grew in intensity, it ended with both QBs seated and staring intently at the screen as they played. Unfortunately, McNabb was pulled away to do interviews before the game ended, so no victor was named.

After the hands-on time, an open panel--consisting of Strahan, McNabb, Culpepper, Leftwich, and Gonzalzez, and hosted by former San Francisco 49er Gary Plummer--discussed their impressions of the game. The players seemed to be united in their approval of the new passing system and were also nearly unanimously in agreement that their current player ratings in attributes such as speed and awareness could use a nudge upwards.

The passing game being a focus of this year's Madden, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez had an interesting response to a question regarding what was more important to the offensive success of a football game: a quarterback with a great arm, or a wide receiver with great hands.

"I'm not going to make [Chiefs quarterback] Trent Green the best quarterback and he's not going to make me the best tight end. We're all going to work together, and then you have to throw in the offensive line. If you throughout history, if you can name a great quarterback you can probably name a great receiver [that played with him] and vice versa so for me it goes hand-in-hand."

The other big feature fully unveiled at tonight's event was NFL Superstar mode, an entirely new mode in the game that puts the player in the position of an up-and-coming rookie athlete making a name for himself in the NFL, complete with a slate of off-the-field drama that accompanies life in America's biggest sport.

Link to Gamespot's report

[Agent Risktaker]

Is there a set release date? I'm certainly getting this, along with NCAA Football '06. Has anyone heard anything about the new NCAA game?

[Carnage]

Culpepper was on Madden 02, not 05

[Cole]

Is there a set release date? I'm certainly getting this, along with NCAA Football '06. Has anyone heard anything about the new NCAA game?

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